I'm right here. This is who I really am. I'm not pretending." - Ender's Shadow
"We could live forever, if we were willing to be stupid the whole time." - Ender's Shadow
"'Shadow' a thrilling tale from a new perspective" - CNN
Summary
This book is a parallel book to Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card (the author) called it a parallax book because it is basically the same story as Ender's Game but through the eyes of another character. The character's eyes in which this story is seen through is Bean. You may think that im only doing this book because it is the same story but through someone else's eyes. Believe me, this book may tell almost the same story but it is totally different.
Bean is an orphan on the streets of Rotterdam. His only thoughts and instincts go towards finding food in order to stay alive. Bean is extremely young and extremely smart. Bean decides to join a gang of other young orphans led by a girl named Poke. Bean had plans for this gang of young orphans. He was going to change the whole way things ran in Rotterdam for the gangs of orphans. In Rotterdam the streets are filled with orphans. The young ones are in gangs and the "older" ones, if you can call seven or eight older, are loners and bullies. The bullies main source of food is the scraps they steal from the younger gangs or from the soup kitchen. The gangs of young kids go to the soup kitchen too. The problem is the bullies budge in front of them and by the time the gangs can get to the front of the line the soup is all gone. Bean has an idea to change this though. Bean recruits his gang to help him get a bully onto the ground and convince the bully to help them get into the kitchen. Bean picks the bully named Achilles (named for his gimp leg). When they tackle Achilles onto the ground they tell him to help them or they will kill him with big stones. When they do this Bean sees something in Achilles eyes. It isnt fear he sees though, it is hatred, the most hate Bean has seen in anyone. When Achilles agrees to help them, Bean tells Poke to kill him anyways because Bean can tell Achilles will seek revenge. Poke doesn't listen. Achilles forms the gang into what he calls his "family". He gets them into the soup kitchen first by showing that he and his family won't take any crap from the other bullies. He does this by breaking another bully's arm. So soon most bullies have a families and they are all getting into soup kitchens and eating because a new rule is made that the families get to go in first. Not all the bullies decide to get families and those bullies are plotting again Achilles. Achilles finds out and has a few of his family help him to take out those rebellious bullies. All the while Achilles is plotting against Poke and Bean. The problem is that Poke is getting involved with Achilles and Bean can tell that it can't turn out good. Bean followed Poke one night and saw her kissing Achilles. He started to walk back to the place where he lives but feels that something is wrong. He turns and runs back only to find Achilles and Poke gone. When he looks in the water he sees one of her eyes floating there and knows that Achilles had murdered her.
Another thing happens because of Bean's plan. One that he didn't see coming. A nun, hired by the International Fleet, takes notice of the young boy revolutionizing Rotterdam's way of life. Her name is Sister Carlotta. She meets Bean and tells him she wants to test him to see if he has what it takes to go to Battle School. He agrees after a little persuasion. She also tells Bean she could teach his family members to read and write. While she is teaching she also discovers how smart Achilles is. Bean knew Achilles was trouble and wouldnt go to Battle School if Achilles would be going. Carlotta agreed to this and so the testing with Bean began. Bean's test results in the intelligence tests were the highest she had ever seen and even the highest in the history of Battle School. The problem was that his results in the personality tests were low and didn't show any sign of good leadership. He was also extremely young and extremely small. (This, we find out, is because he was the result of a lab experiment. A certain "key" in one of his genes was turned making him so extremely intelligent. The downside was that he would be really small but them grow and grow and grow until his body couldnt stand the pressure and he would die. He would die in his early to late twenties.) Sister Carlotta speaks to Commander Graff and persuades him to let Bean join Battle School.
Bean is sent off to Battle School where he is known to be the kid with the highest test scores. Even higher than Ender Wiggin himself. Bean is sent almost immediately into an army. Ender's army as it happens. Bean thinks that Ender doesn't notice him and his genius, that is, until Ender assigns Bean to be a leader of a toon that thinks of the weirdest, most crazy ideas they could think of to use in the battle room. Ender's army is getting almost a battle a day and sometimes two. His army is getting tired and worn out. Then one day Ender gives up. He tells Bean and his toon to use one of there ideas to win. It works and Dragon Army is undefeated. Later that day Ender is sent off to command school. Meanwhile Bean and Ender's closest friends are sent off to train themselves (Petra, Fly, Hot Soup, Alai, Carn, etc.). Bean and the others are formed into a team with Bean as the leader. They practice fighting the buggers using other people by commanding them as individuals and as toons. They use simulations to see how the buggers act when they fight. One day ,after many days of practice, they are told they have a new leader. When they put on their headsets and talk Ender is on the other end. They are extremely excited. They are then told they will practice with Ender as their leader now. So harder simulations are added. They work so well with Ender they never lose any battles and with few casualties. During one of the practices Petra falls asleep and wakes up to find her toon was killed. She is extremely sad that she let the team down but Bean comforts her and makes her feel better.
After many days of practicing with Ender they are told it is their final test. They are all extremely excited and so they begin the simulation. This time their screens are entirely covered with buggers. Ender realizes the only way that they are going to win is if they do a suicide mission using their chain reaction bomb to destroy the buggers. Bean realizes something that no one else did. He found out that these simulations weren't real simulations, they were real battles. When Ender gave the command to send their toons is to distract the buggers so that one of them could deliver the final blow Bean switched his mic so that none of the others could hear what he was about to say. He then recited a verse from the Bible and told the people he knew were real that God was with them. They ended up defeating the buggers and then everyone found out that it was real when the people watching them started cheering.
Another fight started after they won. It was a fight for control of Ender and his team. Everyone was quarantined in dark rooms until the fighting was over. It turns out that Ender's brother Peter became Hegemon and created the peace. There was one decision that Peter made for the betterment of the world. He chose never to let Ender return to Earth.
So Ender's team was sent one by one home to Earth where they were welcomed as heroes. Bean was also sent back to Earth, to his real home. It turns out that a kid at Battle School named Nikolai was actually his brother. Bean was stolen as an egg from his parents. So he returned to Earth to live with his family. His brother, Nikolai, and the parents he finally found.
Why this book is outstanding
I believe this book is outstanding because it is an awesome work of science fiction literature. Ender's Game was an amazing book, but the story seen from Bean's eyes is even better. When the story is seen through Bean's eyes it just adds something else to the story. Bean is a brilliant kid and the story of his struggle to survive is crazy. This book is outstanding because the story line, the plot, the struggles, and just the whole of the book are so cool and interesting. Ender's Shadow is definitely a must read for any sci-fi lovers. I have read almost all of the Ender series and the Shadow series and they are both definitely good series to get into. This book, Ender's Shadow, is the opener for the Shadow series and it only gets better from there. So definitely it is a great book to read, it's amazing, and Orson Scott Card did a fantastic job of giving the Ender's Game story that little extra thing to make it ten or even one hundred times better. This book is the definition of outstanding.
"We could live forever, if we were willing to be stupid the whole time." - Ender's Shadow
"'Shadow' a thrilling tale from a new perspective" - CNN
Summary
This book is a parallel book to Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card (the author) called it a parallax book because it is basically the same story as Ender's Game but through the eyes of another character. The character's eyes in which this story is seen through is Bean. You may think that im only doing this book because it is the same story but through someone else's eyes. Believe me, this book may tell almost the same story but it is totally different.
Bean is an orphan on the streets of Rotterdam. His only thoughts and instincts go towards finding food in order to stay alive. Bean is extremely young and extremely smart. Bean decides to join a gang of other young orphans led by a girl named Poke. Bean had plans for this gang of young orphans. He was going to change the whole way things ran in Rotterdam for the gangs of orphans. In Rotterdam the streets are filled with orphans. The young ones are in gangs and the "older" ones, if you can call seven or eight older, are loners and bullies. The bullies main source of food is the scraps they steal from the younger gangs or from the soup kitchen. The gangs of young kids go to the soup kitchen too. The problem is the bullies budge in front of them and by the time the gangs can get to the front of the line the soup is all gone. Bean has an idea to change this though. Bean recruits his gang to help him get a bully onto the ground and convince the bully to help them get into the kitchen. Bean picks the bully named Achilles (named for his gimp leg). When they tackle Achilles onto the ground they tell him to help them or they will kill him with big stones. When they do this Bean sees something in Achilles eyes. It isnt fear he sees though, it is hatred, the most hate Bean has seen in anyone. When Achilles agrees to help them, Bean tells Poke to kill him anyways because Bean can tell Achilles will seek revenge. Poke doesn't listen. Achilles forms the gang into what he calls his "family". He gets them into the soup kitchen first by showing that he and his family won't take any crap from the other bullies. He does this by breaking another bully's arm. So soon most bullies have a families and they are all getting into soup kitchens and eating because a new rule is made that the families get to go in first. Not all the bullies decide to get families and those bullies are plotting again Achilles. Achilles finds out and has a few of his family help him to take out those rebellious bullies. All the while Achilles is plotting against Poke and Bean. The problem is that Poke is getting involved with Achilles and Bean can tell that it can't turn out good. Bean followed Poke one night and saw her kissing Achilles. He started to walk back to the place where he lives but feels that something is wrong. He turns and runs back only to find Achilles and Poke gone. When he looks in the water he sees one of her eyes floating there and knows that Achilles had murdered her.
Another thing happens because of Bean's plan. One that he didn't see coming. A nun, hired by the International Fleet, takes notice of the young boy revolutionizing Rotterdam's way of life. Her name is Sister Carlotta. She meets Bean and tells him she wants to test him to see if he has what it takes to go to Battle School. He agrees after a little persuasion. She also tells Bean she could teach his family members to read and write. While she is teaching she also discovers how smart Achilles is. Bean knew Achilles was trouble and wouldnt go to Battle School if Achilles would be going. Carlotta agreed to this and so the testing with Bean began. Bean's test results in the intelligence tests were the highest she had ever seen and even the highest in the history of Battle School. The problem was that his results in the personality tests were low and didn't show any sign of good leadership. He was also extremely young and extremely small. (This, we find out, is because he was the result of a lab experiment. A certain "key" in one of his genes was turned making him so extremely intelligent. The downside was that he would be really small but them grow and grow and grow until his body couldnt stand the pressure and he would die. He would die in his early to late twenties.) Sister Carlotta speaks to Commander Graff and persuades him to let Bean join Battle School.
Bean is sent off to Battle School where he is known to be the kid with the highest test scores. Even higher than Ender Wiggin himself. Bean is sent almost immediately into an army. Ender's army as it happens. Bean thinks that Ender doesn't notice him and his genius, that is, until Ender assigns Bean to be a leader of a toon that thinks of the weirdest, most crazy ideas they could think of to use in the battle room. Ender's army is getting almost a battle a day and sometimes two. His army is getting tired and worn out. Then one day Ender gives up. He tells Bean and his toon to use one of there ideas to win. It works and Dragon Army is undefeated. Later that day Ender is sent off to command school. Meanwhile Bean and Ender's closest friends are sent off to train themselves (Petra, Fly, Hot Soup, Alai, Carn, etc.). Bean and the others are formed into a team with Bean as the leader. They practice fighting the buggers using other people by commanding them as individuals and as toons. They use simulations to see how the buggers act when they fight. One day ,after many days of practice, they are told they have a new leader. When they put on their headsets and talk Ender is on the other end. They are extremely excited. They are then told they will practice with Ender as their leader now. So harder simulations are added. They work so well with Ender they never lose any battles and with few casualties. During one of the practices Petra falls asleep and wakes up to find her toon was killed. She is extremely sad that she let the team down but Bean comforts her and makes her feel better.
After many days of practicing with Ender they are told it is their final test. They are all extremely excited and so they begin the simulation. This time their screens are entirely covered with buggers. Ender realizes the only way that they are going to win is if they do a suicide mission using their chain reaction bomb to destroy the buggers. Bean realizes something that no one else did. He found out that these simulations weren't real simulations, they were real battles. When Ender gave the command to send their toons is to distract the buggers so that one of them could deliver the final blow Bean switched his mic so that none of the others could hear what he was about to say. He then recited a verse from the Bible and told the people he knew were real that God was with them. They ended up defeating the buggers and then everyone found out that it was real when the people watching them started cheering.
Another fight started after they won. It was a fight for control of Ender and his team. Everyone was quarantined in dark rooms until the fighting was over. It turns out that Ender's brother Peter became Hegemon and created the peace. There was one decision that Peter made for the betterment of the world. He chose never to let Ender return to Earth.
So Ender's team was sent one by one home to Earth where they were welcomed as heroes. Bean was also sent back to Earth, to his real home. It turns out that a kid at Battle School named Nikolai was actually his brother. Bean was stolen as an egg from his parents. So he returned to Earth to live with his family. His brother, Nikolai, and the parents he finally found.
Why this book is outstanding
I believe this book is outstanding because it is an awesome work of science fiction literature. Ender's Game was an amazing book, but the story seen from Bean's eyes is even better. When the story is seen through Bean's eyes it just adds something else to the story. Bean is a brilliant kid and the story of his struggle to survive is crazy. This book is outstanding because the story line, the plot, the struggles, and just the whole of the book are so cool and interesting. Ender's Shadow is definitely a must read for any sci-fi lovers. I have read almost all of the Ender series and the Shadow series and they are both definitely good series to get into. This book, Ender's Shadow, is the opener for the Shadow series and it only gets better from there. So definitely it is a great book to read, it's amazing, and Orson Scott Card did a fantastic job of giving the Ender's Game story that little extra thing to make it ten or even one hundred times better. This book is the definition of outstanding.
Works Cited
1. Hatrack River. 8 Sep. 2004. Hatrack River Enterprises, Inc. 27 Jan. 2008. <http://www.hatrack.com/quotes/quotes.shtml>.
2. Morris, Brad. "'Shadow' a thrilling tale from a new perspective." CNN. 1 Aug. 1999. 27 Jan. 2008. <http://www.cnn.com/books/reviews/9907/30/enders.shadow/>